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Leaders to weigh pros, cons of future train alignments at Diridon Station

A rendering of the potential viaduct that would carry electrified trains in San Jose along the Guadalupe River Trail. Image courtesy of San Jose public documents

As traffic and congestion plagues the Bay Area, regional transportation leaders are working on a redesign of the South Bay’s most critical transit hub: San Jose’s Diridon Station, abutting a potential new multi-million-square-foot Google campus.

Some details of the new station have been ironed out. For instance, train tracks at Diridon Station will eventually sit 25 feet in the air and riders will come and go via four exits between Santa Clara and San Fernando streets. But next month four key planning bodies will be tasked with making some of the most critical decisions yet related to the effort: how will the trains come and go through the surrounding community?

“We certainly acknowledge that this is a tough decision to decide on an alignment,” John Ristow, San Jose’s transportation director, told councilmembers. “We also know and acknowledge what these (abutting) communities have actually gone through over several decades of history –very large infrastructure projects that have impacted their neighborhoods.”

San Jose councilmembers Tuesday night got an early look at options for future track alignments at the station ahead of a Feb. 4 meeting, where city leaders are expected to decide which option they like best.

By 2040, regional leaders expect Diridon Station will exponentially grow its daily traveler capacity from 17,000 currently, up to 140,000 transit riders on a daily basis, rivaling the number of passengers that move through the San Francisco International Airport each day today.

The newly designed transit epicenter will be a key meeting point for the BART expansion, commuter and high-speed rail, local light rail and bus lines and is expected to open around 2030.

The station’s track alignment will also have far-reaching effects on surrounding communities, said Jessica Zenk, the city’s transportation options manager.

“The decisions that are made at and around the station have very far-reaching physical implications all the way as far north as the Caltrain Maintenance Facility all the way down south to Communications Hill,” she told councilmembers.

Both potential rail layouts include four train tracks, half of which will be electrified, allowing for high-speed rail service running through the station.

In one potential alignment, two tracks would run through the platform’s existing footprint, while the other two tracks would run on an elevated viaduct. The second layout includes a four-track option through the platform’s existing alignment and no viaduct.

Each option comes with advantages and drawbacks, but generally, allowing the trains to run only using the existing alignment would cost half the amount and have fewer negative impacts to the surrounding community overall, according to city documents. That’s why transportation planners are recommending that the alignment remain in the current alignment, not via an elevated viaduct.

Pros and cons of the two rail alignment options currently on the table for Diridon Station. Image courtesy of San Jose public records

Diridon Station sits in the middle of what is now a low slung area on the western edge of the city’s growing downtown, where industrial buildings, small businesses and single-family homes have co-existed for years, even through major freeway expansions and flood mitigation projects.

But the land around the station could become a major economic and housing hub in the coming decade if city leaders approve Google’s massive mixed-use development proposal and rezone the area for taller buildings. Those two efforts are underway now, despite some community concern about displacement and gentrification.

Notably, transportation leaders have also discussed the possibility of placing all four tracks on two viaducts, but discouraged the idea due to the increase in maintenance needs and negative effects on the environment, the visual landscape and property acquisition that it would risk.

“Given all these concerns and considerations, the partner agencies have concluded that placing all trains on the I-280 viaduct is a fatally flawed design option,” Ristow wrote in a memo.

But transportation leaders still said a viaduct option for two tracks was a feasible option, although the structure would still present several challenges.

After months of community feedback, many neighbors supported the idea of re-routing train traffic onto a new, three-mile long viaduct that would follow Interstate 280 and State Route 87, said Elizabeth Scanlon, the project manager for the initiative representing the four public agencies involved, which includes the California High-Speed Rail Authority, Caltrain, the city of San Jose and the Valley Transportation Authority.

Transportation leaders said the viaduct could divert train traffic away from the transit corridor and reduce noise and other negative effects on the surrounding Gregory, Gardner and North Willow Glen neighborhoods.

San Jose lawmakers will decide on a track option at its Feb. 4 City Council meeting.

Caltrain and VTA’s Board of Directors will decide two days later on Feb. 6. Lastly, the California High Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors will choose a preferred track option at its Feb. 18 meeting before transportation leaders move onto the next phase of the station’s plan.

Contact Nadia Lopez at nadia@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @n_llopez on Twitter. Contact Janice Bitters at janice@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @JaniceBitters on Twitter.

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Comments (3)

Ken MiddlebrookJan 29, 2020 at 10:17PM

Ironically, our community had railroad alignment issues 100 years ago when the passenger depot was located on Bassett Street and Southern Pacific’s mainline to the south was routed down the middle of 4th Street. History does repeat itself.

Unfortunately, our City is run by puppets who are looking to further their Political Future by putting the High Speed Rail “feather in their cap”, among other issues – like Alum Rock has an Urban Village Plan instead of just a Zoning Change ! (Look it up if you think I am wrong)

Running High Speed Rail through Gardner Community is a disaster for our City. It enables High Speed Rail Authority, which is not part of the State of California Department of Transportation, to use its idea to run over a Community that was lied to. The number of Trains along the Route will essentially turn that underserved, under-represented, ignored Community into a prison at Commuter Hours with other Passenger and Freight Trains keeping Crossing Gates Down most of the Day.

Lets do some math; 12 High Speed Rail Authority Trains an Hour plus the length of time the gates are up and down?

Now the number of Computer Trains plus their up and down Gates?

Now factor in the number of Freight Trains that use the Tracks, plus their up and down gate time?

Funny how those studies are not openly expressed to the community as a plus for the Community.

When High Speed Rail presented its plan for Gardner, they had a beautiful Suspension Bridge going around the Gardner Community to the North over yhe 280 Freeway and Bird Avenue. That was the key to keeping the quality of life in Gardner Community at least bearable.

Now, because of mismanagement and many, many financial misrepresentations, High Speed Rail has had Federal Rail request High Speed Rail to fulfill Required Obligations to be concluded before going any further. That is the reason High Speed Rail has lost support of Federal Rail.

Gardner was cut into pieces starting in the 20’s when the Pear Orchard were near by. 280, the Guadalupe Freeway and Light Rail have continued to devastate this Community. Families have been displaced and seperated by these wonderful, well traveled advances in modern transportation.

At what cost!!!

Why is the Environmental Justice Report for the Fresno Area 250 pages long, and the one for San Jose only about 50 pages.

I hope my point is clear.

Can you say snow ball, boys and girls?

How about Smoke and Mirrors?

Let me close by say that High Speed Rail is setting its Gun Sight on the Gardner Community and the City of San Jose, yes, our wonderful and dedicated City Council, is pushing Gardner into the line of fire.

In closing, it is not our fault that High Speed Rail assumed Ranchers and Farmers would give up their livelihoods for a Rail Line with asking for an equitable price. Their Dirt is not Dirt Cheap.

It is not our fault that High Speed Rail has been forced to move whole businesses, that is their budget issue.

Now that the cost of going around the Gardner Community has become so outrageous, High Speed Rail Authority, with the support of City Hall, is going to balance their Bank Accounts on the Back of the Gardner Community and take Park Land and homes. Their excuse is the cost overruns are the reason for not building the Community what they showed us. That my friends is “Bait and Switch”.

First High Speed Rail was 2 Tracks around the Gardner Community. Then it was 3 Tracks possibly atround or through Gardner. Now is 4 or 5 Tracks through the heart of the Gardner Community.

This is an election year, we need to give those who support our Community our Votes – not those who support the “Bully” High Speed Rail.

Track alignment is an extremely important discussion to be having. Personally, I believe costs are critical to consider and equally important is that our residential areas suffer as little negative impaction as possible.

Something I have seen little discussion about is the fate of the current station building. It is a beautiful building and must be preserved and restored as necessary. We have already lost far too many significant structures in San Jose in the name of progress. I admonish those who are making the decisions about what will eventually become a major point of entry for our city not to dismiss this beautiful old depot as an afterthought but give it the respectful treatment it deserves.

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